| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| amorphia |
Posted - 01 Sep 2008 : 11:59:17
Hi all,
I decided to share with you what you might call a kind of "review" of the Stratos Centerboard, because when I was deciding what kind of boat to buy earlier this year I found what people had already posted on this forum very useful, but not everything I wanted to know was here. So maybe this information will be useful to people in future.
My most important points when I was chosing boats:
Something quite stable and big because I wanted to take the family along, with small children.
Something that wasn't a nightmare to get out of the water, even without a slipway, because I thought I was going to need to do that.
Something where taking the mast down wasn't going to be a total pain in the neck, because I need to go under bridges to get out of our home lake into the sea.
Something that could go reasonably fast - I don't have any plans for racing (at the moment) but I like to get some pace when I can (OK who doesn't!).
So, I bought the boat new about two months ago, and already after the first few outings I was very happy. It just so happened that there wasn't much wind the first few times I went out, but that wasn't such a problem at all. To me it feels like the boat can handle quite well and you can get about (slowly but surely) even when there is only around 2 metres per second. This was also great for introducing the kids to the boat. We have sailed with two adults and two kids of 1 and 2 years, and it has worked pretty well. Even at around 4 metres per second of wind, even though the 1 year old likes to try and throw himself into the water sometimes, it works to just have the helm balancing the boat, the crew working the jib and simultaneously preventing toddler overboard. So this aspect is really good - definitely the thumbs up as a family boat.
As far as the getting it out of the water goes, my original plan was not a very good one - this is not the boat's fault though, unless you can blame it for being heavy. I don't have an official mooring spot at our lake and my plan was to have the boat in our parking space and take it in and out of the water for sailing. This would probably work fine if you have a slipway, but we don't - there is a grassy bank, so I bought a winch and some metal frame things with rollers which are designed for exactly the purpose of getting boats out of the water when there is no slipway. Anyway, to sum this aspect up, even with two strong adults it is a total pain to winch the boat out of the water like this, and even when it is out you then have the problem of getting it onto the trolley. My solution to this is to just leave it in the water and ignore the fact that officially it shouldn't be there (not desirable - I keep getting emails asking me to remove it!).
Now, our home lake is only about slightly under 3 kilometers long by slightly under 1 across. After sailing around this for a while, it starts to feel a bit small for a boat like the Stratos. So far I have only once made it under the bridges and out the lock onto the sea. This is mainly because most of my mates aren't very experienced sailors and I didn't want to do it without someone who was at least as experienced as me, because the shipping channel out there is probably the busiest in Sweden, with regular visits from Baltic and transatlantic ferries and huge numbers of smaller ferries and pleasure craft. Anyway, the point is that it was rather straightforward to get the mast down and up. I would say once you got good at it, you could raise the mast in 10 minutes. We did it afloat without even being moored, in a sheltered spot. The key is to realise you don't even need to take the shrouds off, or the jib. All you need to do is to do is take the boom off, take the forestay off, loosen the jib loads, untie the gennaker halyard, and take the mast down (there might be something I've forgotten but that's about it).
But what an adventure it was out there in Stockholm's inner archipelago! We had probably around 7 m per s of wind, and put it this way, we were overtaking a lot of yachts under sail. That was the only time I have actually had the gennaker up (again, I wanted someone else fairly experienced to help with that), and it really made us rocket. So it felt to me anyway - I haven't really sailed any very high performance dinghies so my basis for comparison might not be the same as other people's.
One more thing that might be useful for people to know - I have an electric motor and it works really well for getting us through the locks. It is a Minn Kolta, their least powerful, running with a little 50 Ah battery. The motor sits on the wooden block really nicely, and can be angled out of the way when under sail, so that it neither drags nor interferes very much with the rudder or tiller (it can catch the tiller extension at certain angles but you soon learn to avoid them). The battery sits in a plastic box which I attach to the boat using a strap which is attached via the screws holding down the foremost toe-strap-eye metal plate. I didn't want to drill new holes, so it's there, but that is actually a good place for the battery anyway. My one concern about this motor is that I have not capsized with it yet, and I am worried that a) maybe even the motor itself can't take complete immersion, though I guess it probably could and b) I could easily be looking at a short circuited battery if it ends up under water - the plastic box which holds the battery is not water tight although I use plastic bags to delay the water ingress if a capsize does happen. Suggestions welcome about the best way to fix this!
So is this really a review, or just a gushing of praise? Well, I do have one or two really rather minor niggles. Firstly, the eye for attaching a painter at the front can NOT take the whole boat's weight, on rollers out of the water. What has happened to mine is that the top bolt bit has broken so that the end of it inside the boat with the nut on just fell off. Mind you I didn't even notice this for a while, during which time I was still hauling the boat, but evidently this was rather precarious.
Like others on the forum, I often find it hard to keep the centerboard down.
The reef knots, which various things like the toe straps and centerboard cord come tied with, are rubbish and always come undone, and I have so far been too lazy to find out what a better knot is for such purposes! OK so that's my fault too I suppose...
Right that's about all I can think of to post right now, I may add something else if I think of it!
Cheers,
Ben |
| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| amorphia |
Posted - 29 Sep 2008 : 20:06:22
Hi there folks,
I also had a go in some kind of big Topper recently that was vaguely similar to the Stratos (they have one you can hire on Studland beach in Dorset) and I had the same feeling - it just didn't feel anywhere near as nice as the Stratos. Mind you I do have fond memories of the little one man Toppers, that's how I learned to sail.
Now putting a motor on the tiller sounds a little odd to me but I haven't really thought it through - perhaps you don't have the wooden motor bracket (it is an optional extra I think). As for the battery, well I bought a special sturdy plastic battery box from the same shop I got the battery. It has a strap which goes round it, which has the dual purpose of securing the box closed, and allowing the box to be secured to the boat. The toe-strap screws go through the strap. To be honest bungies sound like a lot of hassle compared to this method. If I turn turtle the battery isn't going anywhere (but I suppose it might get shorted). I do advise having the battery fore, not aft - you will obviously end up with a cable going down the boat, but that is a price worth paying not to have the battery in the way at the back where you are mainly sitting while sailing.
As for a conventional motor - well I can't really see a single advantage compared to electric, except for having to have a battery, and that is a minor problem, once you got a good way to stow it. I think my motor and battery together weigh less than a fuel motor, and a fuel motor isn't going to enjoy being inverted either!
Oh, and to clarify - I do use a winch for pulling the boat out of the steep bank. It's still a big hassle. Without a winch, I don't think even two strong people could do it.
Rock on Stratos sailors!
Cheers,
Ben |
| neilgbj |
Posted - 29 Sep 2008 : 19:48:07
Just a couple of thoughts/musings on the above......
If you are trying to get a boat up a steep bank/slip regularly why not fix a winch at the top as they do on some of the deeper reservoirs (Queen Marys has them if I remember correctly)....
As for the heavy battery.....would'nt it be easier to get a conventional engine..... know its noisier and smellier and less enviromentaly friendly but electric seems like a lot of bother...if I understand it you are going to fix the engine to the rudder ? The pintles can be suspect and this may not help....anyway it will be interesting to see how you get on...other option...don't use an engine and enjoy the perils of tidal sailing !
Nice to see everyone is enjoying their respective Stratoss.....
Cheers
Neil |
| grahn |
Posted - 29 Sep 2008 : 19:18:18
Hi amorphia,
good write up. I agree you made a good choice of boat. I had a spin in a Topper Omega which is a plastic competitor. Rubbish compared to the stratos. Noticeable unstable. I to am going to try an electric out board @ 54k thrust hoping it'll cope with the tide pulling on the boat. I though I'd mount it on the rear of the tiller, turning through 90 deg via the bracket to get the motor pointing rearward. The battery center rear, using a bungy across the width of the boat hooking on the centre of the drainage holes. More bungies from rear toestrap mounts to hook drilled into the plastic transon inspection plate. I'd disconnect when not in use and plastic bag the top of the outboard to protect it. The biggest problem is what happens to 20kg of battery is you turtle?? |
| amorphia |
Posted - 29 Sep 2008 : 11:27:17
Hi Hobbs,
I don't have a car trailer so I can't comment on that. You are correct that the normal way of doing things is to roll the dolly into the water and then float the boat on or off it. But if you don't have a slipway, and the bank is steep, then getting the dolly in and out of the water with the boat on is going to be really tricky. I was thinking of obtaining some kind of rails the dolly wheels could go down, so then you would lanch/retrieve as normal but with the rails instead of a slipway. But our lake gets so deep so quickly that it would have been difficult to fasten the rails in place. So what I used to do was slide the boat in and out by itself. Then you have to get it off the ground (ours is grassy so the boat doesn't get damaged from lying there) and onto the dolly. That is doable but a total pain with two strong people.
All in all I would not recommend anyone to try this as a long term solution for anything. My guess is the makeshift rails substituting for a slipway would work better, if your local conditions allow it.
Cheers,
Ben |
| IIIHobbs |
Posted - 25 Sep 2008 : 01:26:45
Thanks for sharing all those details.
Our launch and mooring situation is similar to yours, so t he writing about pulling the boat on shore was of interest to me.
We do not yet own a Stratos, but nearly purchased one this past season.
My understanding with launch and recovery is that the Dolly is rolled into the water and then the boat is launched and/or pulled out on the dolly and then onto the trailer.
If only the dolly is used, then my understanding is that one would pull the dolly from the water with the boat on it.
Can you comment further please. |
| Pete1 |
Posted - 01 Sep 2008 : 20:02:12
Glad you're enjoying it!
If you are leaving it afloat you should check that it isn't taking on water in the centre section.
The knots and rigging as supplied SHOULD be perfect but boat manufacturers don't seem to care. CHECK EVERYTHING! I recently got a new RS 500 and you would hope that given the price they would actually do some pre-delivery checking. No chance. Same was true when I got the Stratos new in '04.
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